Alzheimer’s Fast Track 2026 > Alzheimer’s Fast Track 2026 Itinerary
Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Alzheimer’s Fast Track 2026 Itinerary

Wednesday, Nov. 11
8:00 – 8:10Welcome
SESSION I: Fostering Success in Science
Moderator: Sharyn Rossi
8:10 – 8:30
How to Write a Successful Grant		Cindy Lemere
8:30 – 8:50
Building a Foundation for Early-Stage Success		Frank LaFerla
8:50 – 9:10
Networking and Building Scientific Relationships		Harry Steinbusch
9:10 – 9:40
Discussion
9:40 – 10:10
Making an Impact with Your Speech and Style		Bri McWhorter
10:10 – 10:30
Discussion
10:30 – 10:45
Break
SESSION II: Bridging Biology and the Patient Experience in ADRD
Moderator: Frank LaFerla
10:45 – 11:30
Harnessing Multimodal Biomarkers for Precision Medicine of Alzheimer’s Disease		Andrew Saykin
11:30 – 11:45
Discussion
11:45 – 12:45
Personal Journeys Panel		Moderated by: Justin Miller

Cynthia Huling Hummel
Emily Kawasaki
Aaron Daniels
Lisa Dezzutti
12:45 – 2:00
Lunch
SESSION III: Clinical Heterogeneity and Cross-Disease Biology in ADRD
Moderator: Harry Steinbusch
2:00 – 2:20
Atypical Alzheimer’s Disease: Embracing Clinicopathologic Heterogeneity to Inform Biomarker and Therapeutic Discoveries		Melissa Murray
2:20 – 2:40
Probing the Vascular Cognitive Impairment – Alzheimer’s Disease Interface		Adam Brickman
2:40 – 3:00
Clinical Manifestations of Mixed Neuropathology		Melissa Lamar
3:00 – 3:30
Discussion
Moderated by: Cindy Lemere
3:30 – 4:00
The Inverse Correlation Between Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease		Rebekah Feng
4:00 – 4:30
Break
4:30 – 7:00
Mock Grant Proposals
7:00 – 9:00
Dinner

Thursday, Nov. 12
SESSION I: Drivers of Vulnerability and Resilience in ADRD
Moderator: Frank LaFerla
8:30 – 8:50 AM
Why Are Women at a Higher Risk for Dementia? The Plot Thickens		Tallie Z. Baram
8:50 – 9:10
Personal Journeys Informing Science		Justin Miller
9:10 – 9:30
Molecular Drivers of Resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease		Timothy Hohman
9:30 – 9:50
Cognitively Healthy Centenarians: How Protective Genetics Regulates Neuropathology		Henne Holstege
9:50 – 10:10
Discussion
10:10 – 10:30
Break
SESSION II: Systemic and Cellular Drivers of Brain Aging
Moderator: Harry Steinbusch
10:30 – 10:50
Metabolic Reprogramming Drives Sleep Loss in Alzheimer’s Disease		Shannon Macauley
10:50 – 11:10
Temporal Regulation of Oligodendroglial Dynamics in Healthy Aging and AD		Erin Gibson
11:10 – 11:30
The Plastic Within: A New Frontier in Brain Health		Diego Mastroeni
11:30 – 11:50
Human iPSC-Based Experimental Systems for Capturing Genetic Diversity and Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease		Tracy Young Pearse
11:50 – 12:20
Discussion
12:20 – 1:30
Lunch
SESSION III: Targeting Peripheral Systems in Neurodegeneration
Moderator: Cindy Lemere
1:30 – 1:50
Peripheral Immune Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease is Stage-Dependent and Enables Stratification of Disease Phenotypes		Malú Tansey
1:50 – 2:10
The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Alzheimer’s disease		Laurie Cox
2:10 – 2:30
How Exercise Protects the Brain—Cell by Cell—in Alzheimer’s Disease		Christie Wrann
2:30 – 2:50
Why the Alzheimer’s Field Should Care about Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia		Donna Wilcock
2:50 – 3:20
Discussion
3:20 – 3:30
Short Break
KEYNOTE
Moderator: Sharyn Rossi
3:30 – 4:15
Blood-Based Approaches to Rejuvenating the Aging Brain		Saul Villeda
4:15 – 4:30
Discussion
4:30 – 7:00
Mock Grant Proposals
7:00 – 9:00
Dinner

Friday, Nov. 13
8:30 – 8:50PERIPHERAL IMMUNE CROSS TALK
8:50 – 9:05DISCUSSION
9:05 – 9:25AGING
9:25 – 9:40Discussion
9:40 – 10:00EXPOSOME
10:00 – 10:15Discussion
10:15 – 10:35METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION
10:35 – 10:50Discussion
10:50 – 11:10VASCULAR CONTRIBUTIONS
11:10 – 11:25Discussion
11:25 – 11:45NEUROPATHOLOGY
11:45 – 12:00Discussion
12:00 – 1:30Picture and Lunch
2:00 – 2:20MICROBIOME
2:20 – 2:35Discussion
2:35 – 2:55NOVEL BIOMARKERS
2:55 – 3:10Discussion
3:10 – 3:30 OLIGODENDROCYTE DYSFUNCTION
3:30 – 3:45Discussion
3:45 – 4:05SEX BASED DIFFERENCES
4:05 – 4:20Discussion
4:20 – 5:00Deliberation and Awards